Application Engineer

Vital Materials Co., Limited; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Vital Materials Co., Limited seeks an Application Engineer for High‑Speed Optical Transceivers to help hyperscale customers evaluate, test, and deploy products for AI data center applications. You’ll diagnose issues, coordinate interoperability testing, and translate requirements into engineering feedback.

You will be the technical front line, collaborating with Sales and Product Director to ensure evaluation-to-pilot-to-deployment success and to drive continuous improvement in lab processes.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in optical networking, data center optics, high‑speed links, transceivers, or related test/validation/field application engineering.
• Strong understanding of high‑speed optics/transceiver systems and standards, including concepts such as link budgets, BER, signal integrity, and optical/electrical performance metrics.
• Hands‑on experience with lab equipment and testing workflows relevant to transceiver evaluation.
• Ability to write clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Comfort working in cross‑functional settings with Sales and product/engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain suitable evaluation and test capabilities in Bay Area office to support product evaluation and customer demonstrations
• Support customer optical transceiver evaluations with hands‑on technical assistance (bring-up, configuration, verification, and troubleshooting).
• Plan and execute interoperability and acceptance test activities (as defined by customer and internal test plans).
• Coordinate lab work and testing logistics with internal engineering teams (hardware/firmware/systems/test).
• Analyze and debug link performance issues (e.g., BER/eye/constellation, signal integrity, thermal/power behavior, error patterns).
• Prepare technical documentation for customers and internal teams: test reports, procedures, troubleshooting notes, and results summaries.
• Support pre‑sales and post‑sales technical engagements alongside Sales (technical demos, technical Q&A, evaluation support).
• Act as a technical translator between customer needs and product/engineering: capture requirements, document gaps, propose mitigations.
• Support RF/optical/DSP configuration guidance (where applicable) and ensure customer setup aligns with product operating conditions.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of evaluation/test processes and customer success playbooks.
• Participate in customer escalations when deeper technical root‑cause work is required.

Skills

Optical networking

Data center optics

Transceiver systems

Lab equipment

Technical documentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD preferred

Tools

Test equipment

Job description

Application Engineer — High-Speed Optical Transceivers (Hyperscaler Applications)

Location: Bay Area

Experience: 5–10 years

Education: PhD preferred

Reports to: Sales & Engineering leadership (supporting Sales Director and Product Director)

Role summary

Join our high‑speed optical transceiver business to help hyperscale customers evaluate, test, and deploy our products for AI data center applications. You’ll be the technical front line—working closely with Sales and the Product Director to diagnose issues, run/coordinate interoperability testing, translate customer requirements into actionable engineering feedback, and ensure successful evaluation-to-pilot-to-deployment outcomes.

Key responsibilities

• Establish and maintain suitable evaluation and test capabilities in Bay Area office to support product evaluation and customer demonstrations


• Support customer optical transceiver evaluations with hands‑on technical assistance (bring-up, configuration, verification, and troubleshooting).


• Plan and execute interoperability and acceptance test activities (as defined by customer and internal test plans).


• Coordinate lab work and testing logistics with internal engineering teams (hardware/firmware/systems/test).


• Analyze and debug link performance issues (e.g., BER/eye/constellation, signal integrity, thermal/power behavior, error patterns).


• Prepare technical documentation for customers and internal teams: test reports, procedures, troubleshooting notes, and results summaries.


• Support pre‑sales and post‑sales technical engagements alongside Sales (technical demos, technical Q&A, evaluation support).


• Act as a technical translator between customer needs and product/engineering: capture requirements, document gaps, propose mitigations.


• Support RF/optical/DSP configuration guidance (where applicable) and ensure customer setup aligns with product operating conditions.


• Contribute to continuous improvement of evaluation/test processes and customer success playbooks.


• Participate in customer escalations when deeper technical root‑cause work is required.

Required qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in optical networking, data center optics, high‑speed links, transceivers, or related test/validation/field application engineering.


• Strong understanding of high‑speed optics/transceiver systems and standards, including concepts such as link budgets, BER, signal integrity, and optical/electrical performance metrics.


• Hands‑on experience with lab equipment and testing workflows relevant to transceiver evaluation.


• Ability to write clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.


• Comfort working in cross‑functional settings with Sales and product/engineering teams.

Preferred qualifications

• PhD (EE/Photonics/Optical Engineering or equivalent).


• Experience specifically with pluggable optics and/or coherent and/or PAM4‑based transceiver ecosystems.


• Experience with interoperability testing processes and working with hyperscale evaluation/qualification workflows.


• Familiarity with common test/measurement tooling for optical/electrical link characterization.


• Experience troubleshooting production issues and driving root‑cause analysis with engineering teams.

What success looks like (first 6–12 months)

• You establish complete test and measurement lab environment, coordinated with R&D/product development team


• You consistently enable customer evaluations by delivering rapid technical support, correct test execution, and accurate reporting.


• You improve evaluation success rates by proactively identifying configuration/test mismatches and gaps early.


• You provide high‑quality customer feedback that translates into actionable engineering updates or documentation improvements.

Working style

• High ownership in the lab and in customer engagements.


• Structured problem‑solving and strong documentation habits.


• Collaborative mindset with Sales and Product Director, R&D; comfortable managing multiple evaluations in parallel.

Organizational context & interactions

• Reports to: Chief Marketing Officer.


• Close partners: Product Director, Product Marketing/Technical Marketing, Solution/System/Applications Engineering, Supply Chain/Ops, Finance, and external partners where needed.

Keywords (ATS)

Application Engineer, Field Applications Engineer, Optical Transceivers, Data Center Optics, Pluggable Optics, Coherent Optics, PAM4, Interoperability Testing, BER, Signal Integrity, Troubleshooting, Lab Validation, Customer Technical Support, Hyperscaler